Compare
Nepal vs Sri Lanka
How Nepal and Sri Lanka compare on 38 measures, from 1789 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Sri Lanka was higher: 77.5 years against 70.4 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, Sri Lanka was higher: $4,439 against $1,234
- Population · In 2023, Nepal was higher: 29.7 million people against 23 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, Sri Lanka was higher: 1.31% of GDP against 0.97% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, Sri Lanka was higher: 1.07 tonnes against 0.54 tonnes
Every measure
Health
- Life expectancyNepal: 70.4 years in 2023Sri Lanka: 77.5 years in 2023
- Child mortalityNepal: 2.5 per 100 live births in 2024Sri Lanka: 0.6 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalityNepal: 21.9 per 1,000 live births in 2023Sri Lanka: 5.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterNepal: 16.1% in 2022Sri Lanka: 47.1% in 2022
- DepressionNepal: 3.61% in 2017Sri Lanka: 3.44% in 2017
- Suicide rateNepal: 8.4 per 100,000 people in 2017Sri Lanka: 19.8 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationNepal: 29.7 million people in 2023Sri Lanka: 23 million people in 2023
- Population growthNepal: -0.14% a year in 2023Sri Lanka: 0.58% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateNepal: 1.98 births per woman in 2023Sri Lanka: 1.97 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationNepal: 67% in 2025Sri Lanka: 20.5% in 2025
- Median ageNepal: 24.7 years in 2023Sri Lanka: 32.8 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overNepal: 6.4% in 2023Sri Lanka: 11.7% in 2023
- Net migration rateNepal: -13.8 per 1,000 people in 2023Sri Lanka: -1.2 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingNepal: 0.97% of GDP in 2025Sri Lanka: 1.31% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsNepal: $429M in 2025Sri Lanka: $1.36B in 2025
- Military spending per personNepal: $14 in 2025Sri Lanka: $60 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingNepal: 4.5% of government spending in 2025Sri Lanka: 4.9% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelNepal: 112,000 people in 2020Sri Lanka: 317,000 people in 2020
- National powerNepal: 0.18% of world capability in 2022Sri Lanka: 0.31% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersNepal: 1.4% of the labour force in 2020Sri Lanka: 3.74% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsNepal: 6 million TIV in 2025Sri Lanka: 11 million TIV in 2025
Climate
Technology and environment
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, WHO/UNICEF, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time